Chapter 40: Dupe Bug (3)
jwhqMThere were two ways to consume Mandrakes.lwNa
2Up8One was to chew on the roots but Mandrakes were similar to ginsengs in a lot of ways – there were rumors that eating them raw was the best way to consume them, but the officially better method to consume it was by boiling it into a stew like a Chinese medicine.82TGBI
Rhj0UgBy combining it with 28 other ingredients including reed roots, silvervine, matrimony vine roots and antlers, you boil it for over 10 hours…nQoVPZW
nbKnnHYes. It was just like traditional Chinese medicine.GXlvYj
jmkEAs expected of a Korean game.hma
c3Bn“That’s done! Now we just have to wait. What are you doing Korin?”lbLS
8LCck“Making the wait a bit more interesting.”wa7TBOp
eMdWg2b“Nnn?”JvbKyc
p5IMarie tilted her head in doubt after seeing the letters I wrote on the ground by removing the dry leaves.Jtywz
y7uC“These are rune letters, right?”v12KU
OJWL46R“Yes. Can you read them?”umBZ
MZUyveT“I don’t understand what they mean, but I’ve seen them in one of my courses.”qhi
zcX“This one here is ᚢ [Uruz]. It means untamed / pure strength.”hyf
KfP“Then, what about these ones here?”rSgW
fzZ2tD“This one is ᚹ [Wunjo], which means joy and glory. The one next to that is ᚨ [Ansuz], which represents a great deity of the pantheon and this ᚷ [Gebo] here is the symbol of a female warrior that was favored by one of the gods.”igE9i
MVJ“It doesn’t look like a simple combination of letters. Does it mean anything?”JZyy
RwqBJY7“Apparently you get this when you combine these four letters. O warrior, you are being watched over by the pantheon and the great warrior, so obtain glory through your power.”sHyzipD
UlyqrrP“Wow~. That’s an interesting interpretation!”x5Qg0
0dLPG“Yes. So from ancient times, this set of runes have been sent down as an unignorable declaration of a fight to Rune Mages.”VLDpYC
l8cR4“Where did you learn this from? Isn’t rune language pretty much unused these days?”MSG
o1iX3Pb“I learned it from my Master.”tpH
VuLffbpLess than a year ago, I had been learning runes and spearmanship under her. The Void and the Primal Rune she left behind… Even though I learned how to reach the Void, the Primal Rune was a bit of a different issue.9Z2do6Y
Uh0jPKnowing the letters did not mean I could use them, after all.Ppzro
cV9HYBy ‘retrieving’ and carving into one’s body, a Primal Rune was something that could only be used by one person. One of the goals of the final boss of this scenario was to retrieve one of these Primal Runes for himself.Z23
rPgExVMy master wanted me to inherit the Primal Rune but ended up being killed before that by ‘that guy’.XpdK6v
CtK2gO6“What kind of person is your master? Is your master from the Tower of Mages or something? Or else, it would be hard to know about runes, right?”0lh
f8pT“Hmm… My master… is just a normal person. A normal person that you would find anywhere.”BpsF8q
Vyej1vA normal and kind person, who did everything she could.b1s
qGCVUp“…You look very fond of your master.”zWrwX
DtG7dQ“Uhh… do I?”o0Ztu
KXCb“Nn. And you look very sad as well.”vUocc
Hp9EACHMarie directly stared at me for a while before pulling me by my hand all the way to the boiling pot of medicine.mJR
OLNE“Would you like some potatoes?”pT403Y
KA8“Umm… I did skip my meal but…”yyZMFtJ
vwrsSWU“I have it so don’t worry! Doggo!”mH3Z
saMx– Clap clap!WsWxVa1
pLUdSomething began sprinting towards us after her clap. I was a bit nervous from the rough and violent set of steps but what appeared afterwards was a blood-red dog which was as big as a large werewolf.zhtLqDY
O86y“Looks like you have full control over your familiar.”I4tKTG0
b79rH6O“It’s thanks to you, Korin. Because you’ve been giving me your blood all the time… I was able to form a proper contract.”rAf1
O6DmA familiar of a vampire – inside the Blood Realm formed by a vampire above the elder-rank, they were as omnipotent as the vampire themselves.lBQc
HfjxIyTheir strength was at the pinnacle of every familiar possible, and it wasn’t an overstatement to say that the status of a vampire was decided by the strength of their familiar.9c0wj
8tW1“Is his name Doggo?”Xes
8IDWlxv“Not bad, right?”o7J
DPht7E“Well, he is a dog I guess…”UluD
fhjO4DPUpon a closer inspection of Doggo, I realized that he had started to form a ‘physical’ shape that was a lot clearer than before. He was similar to a clay doll formed with drops of blood before back when I was fighting him, but he now looked like an actual organism.Yila
ITsbBQAs expected, Marie’s talent as a vampire was unprecedented.kaj
8RPNku“By the way, isn’t this guy also my child in a way?”qkw
hx72x“H, huh? What do you… mean?”GcjkN
agdL0q“Like, think about it. If he’s made of blood, then half of this guy’s blood was probably mine, so doesn’t that make me his father? Hahaha!”g11sl
Vwj“…!! I, I see. That makes sense.”d9xZws
fYHPerhaps because she had been outsmarted by a knight as a mage who seeked wisdom, Marie lowered her hat all the way down and silently hid her face.6rlFc
eUFFWDAfter a while, she lifted her head with a bright smile and gave a suggestion.vtBYmh2
vXa“So since you are Doggo’s daddy…!”eVmEZ
oOU“Yes?”BLsznY
qdV“How about you play with Doggo?”UjWV
ZgVb0N7“Play with him? Like, he’s not a real dog though so why…”B5AneyG
ld84o7“He likes to move around a lot, so you really need to play around with him! It surprises me sometimes because he brings dead demonic beasts from the hunting grounds if he doesn’t have enough exercise!”e6BR8io
HC4325“Is he a real dog or what…”NWu1nZT
NERqGKWasn’t he more like a tiger or a lion considering his size? Why was he acting like a dog?IP2
3eSpPYA“Doggo! Papa is saying he will play with you!”yEfiDEI
YDDK“Woof!”x7uH3
UNEDoggo walked up to me and lowered his tongue while panting out loud. Hmm… I guess he’s a little bit cute?UDmE5
R7o9Ef“You might spill the stew so go play over there!”rCEov
bfGxt3l“Okay mama.”9wq
45kCL“Thank you~”Csc
MfoSbs“Haha, Doggo! Let’s go play with daddy!”Hsuc
xpFKoI took Doggo over to the corner of the empty plot of land but I wasn’t really sure what to do, because I had never played with super large dogs that were 1 meter taller than a person.5e0nLuV
GoUPujO“Should we play catch with a rock or something?”Tv2LE
GC3po8l“…”uCK
FjVXri7“Doggo?”zFZpLba
xj3The big guy, who had been clinging on while panting just then, suddenly turned different.VIA1
dZJljS9“Grrhhh…!”Pv03
Kaou4“U, uht?!”onwM
237niOnSuddenly, Doggo started rapidly dashing towards me!AcxGA
QcEOZn– Kwang!BzYlj2S
g266gto“…?!”4jX
nc72mEven though his speed wasn’t as fast as the one he had inside the Blood Realm, that was definitely not the speed of a playing dog. It was so fast that I could have died immediately upon contact. If I got hit by that instead of that tree…Nk5zE
Djzgu– Gulp!O3rq
ZCp3“Kukekekeke…!”3BI3UC
PrKRHThat was when I saw something – the wicked smile on Doggo’s lips which he had been concealing by ‘pretending’ to be nice!HmKW47U
ZyIhe– Kwang! Kwagagang!30IbUmg
RPs– Kwagagagagang!!t4rHwI
pKE“Let’s have potatoes when you’re done!”kgvO0U7
xHZUPsMarie’s voice was barely audible through the thunderous roars resonating across the area. Following that, another voice echoed from behind.NVm2X
lLYf“Haa… haa! Senior Marie! I brought some food over! It’s enough for the three of us to… Nnn?”SYhM0mg
aoVovYH– Pugak! Kwagagak!Xn6xrYX
o2LPaYRolling across the ground, I somehow managed to re-posture myself.CjQSVO
ivrsSDoggo you bastard! Are you trying to kill me!?iDFe39
l1kR“Mr. Korin!”ZWNSo
PBBSiWQ“Alicia?”M1Xrgxm
VrXHe“W, what is happening? Is there an enemy attacking us?”swIUO
EYPHP“Give me your hand!”roUU
ByKyKY2“Huh? H, here you go.”n18Kr
snHis– Slap!vTxrk
C43tqI gave her palm a slap.PMtHksh
5xZ“Hnn?”GC0wy
HXEp“Your turn now. Doggo! Alicia-noona here will be playing with you from now on!”rWNQ
WPN15pA“…What?”B9lp
9V73cxx“I’m too old to play with dogs…”FEk3
4CSDcs“Grrhh!”PTSzc
13Az4C7“Huh? Huhh? Kyaaaaat?!”oPP
l3EvThe newborn vampire-breed dog was way too proactive.Te7jtfX
gAp****bhC
VmvABSoon, the Mandrake stew was done. This decoction made of all sorts of medicinal herbs and a Mandrake was bubbling in a color that was as dark as outer space.IHCE
wxooia“Looks good.”KKcKx
jU3Marie poured the medicine into a bowl as if she was used to it.MtL0mD2
Sb9u8“It’s best to drink a Mandrake stew in one go. Let me put ice inside.”zpKusH
tZTFAfter creating a large cluster of ice with her magic, Marie placed it inside the bowl of medicine. I could already feel with my hands how lukewarm it was, and it looked like there wouldn’t be any problems with drinking it in one go. I poured the content down my throat while being grateful of her consideration.1mgd2
TJc‘Bitter.’Y2o
QJnWIThe Mandrake stew was very bitter but it wasn’t unbearable because things that were good for the body were all bitter in general.rY72hTi
XI0CdXX“Mr. Korin. Here’s a candy.”PF1h
x030“Hoh…”nYIEUn
aEGrThere was a very intense and bitter aftertaste so I was craving for something sweet and Alicia handed me a honey bomb candy in a timely manner. It was sweet enough to numb your tongue so I usually had this only when I was trying to focus on something, but it was okay after being mixed with the bitter taste of the Mandrake decoction.YpR35
lJDrRR“Korin! Would you like some potatoes?!”Oa1D3X0
NIrr73“No. Why would I have potatoes while having medicine? I’ll eat it later.”TlrQ
g6s“Mhmm…!”cKC
GsXHer cheeks bulged out like balloons. More importantly, a system window appeared in front of my eyes.ZQHJC
eWSW『You have consumed a Mandrake Decoction.』
– Your mana regeneration speed greatly increases.RUP
lMIj7rO– Your maximum mana capacity increases by 1,300.16dYo
h7zvbIt wasn’t an overstatement to say that this was a miraculous improvement for mages. The mana pool I had after Alicia’s incident was [Low (2,870)]. Considering how I was recovering less than 1,500 mana a day, it was a massive improvement.PRZ2Gw
3iWGCVRight now, my mana pool was at 4,170, and if this was the same as the game, the regen speed should have gone up by over a thousand so I should be recovering about 2~3,000 a day.6JWZHC
AZos3Gw‘With this, my stats have finally reached the level of a full-fledged named character.’IwouoKs
VMK1b9Although it really was a random set of stats, I was starting to have similar stats to named characters. Taking into account the support I had through the Precept, it was safe to say that I wouldn’t lose to peers of my level.95u67Z9
WaVyjhT“Senior Marie and Alicia, you should have some too. Having it on repeat isn’t going to do anything anyway.”QxE
Cu5Because a Mandrake was a very potent herb, they only showed their effect once. You could have it again once the medicine was fully absorbed into your body but that would halve the effect and this decoction would also go bad before that so it was better to give it to other people.FfPFr1Z
8THi“Can I?”gDTLEir
499Uu7f“Just leave a little bit please, so that I can give it to others as well.”UOGRq
uujA pure knight like Jaeger had no use for it, but Lark and Yuel would probably love it. As for Dorron, I would sell it to him.v27
NrZyConsidering the effect of a Mandrake stew, he would gladly pay up to 10 gold coins for it.7x2
m4l“Oh right. After boiling it once, you should put the leftover Mandrake in a fridge,” said Senior Marie.IF0MZ
jtj“Isn’t it over once you boil it once?”I30v7lq
Uku6kI“You can continue boiling it into a tea, and it will help harden your bones!”RyiG
TTOAR4To think there was such an effect to used-up Mandrakes…! As expected of the daughter of a family of farmers, she knew a lot more than I did.xw3uo
TyGGyRPNext up was the White Silver Mandrake.JNTUCyg
RmB“It’s my first time seeing a Mandrake of this color! What is this?” Senior Marie asked.7k3mAe
jFe“I just got a bit lucky. Ah, I have to eat this one by myself.”MzbF
5PLA“Don’t worry about that because it’s yours, Korin. We’re grateful already for you sharing the stew with us!”5Vmtg
0iZGmJ5“But I am curious about what it does.”8swE
hi9Alicia added after Marie. Both of them seemed very intrigued by the White Silver Mandrake which they were seeing for the first time.BjNGrXV
3lZ1RY“Huu…”Kd27xh
7HN0dWhite Silver Mandrake. Although there was the downside that you had to eat this horrendous-looking thing raw, it did have a ridiculously positive effect to it.GOK9w
nYgx– Gulp!OQ3ytuK
CMDEOI slowly munched through it starting from the roots. Thanks to Marie dusting off the dirt with her magic, the texture wasn’t so terrible. There was a time when I chewed on a raw fresh ginseng, and it had the exact same texture as that. The flavor wasn’t actually that bad.BM4gJy
fkKL『You have consumed the White Silver Mandrake.』
– An Aura Core has been formed.- Your Aura Rank is { Medium }. You may accumulate up to 3,500 aura.7Fo9U
kdmtyNBAt last!yyzop
U4MLQAt last, I have gained it. My main energy source in the last iteration, the Aura Core!Pr4Z
UDf“Huhuhu…”ltFP3
59MZ6sR“Mr. Korin?”2AvLow7
LXdDID“I wouldn’t have had to go through all that stuff if I had this.”SiS
t77f1The original plan was to consume this before the boss fight against Marie. It was a type of expedient that would let me, who was still at the level of a Grade 2 named character, use the ‘Sixth Style’.97LM
xLPQZ“I have an Aura Core now.”in2K
eait“Hukk… An Aura Core?!”RxBOlv
8fJf“Are you serious?”NvUwRF
ugZuAura Core.HGgxs
YMCXV7jIt was a storage of aura that knights had once their control over aura reached the pinnacle.4okEe
ZXxqUAlthough it was formed naturally inside your body once you reached { High } in your Aura Rank, I was able to obtain one a lot earlier than others thanks to the White Silver Mandrake.OK7PK3B
op7oqBesides, if I reached { High } in my Aura Rank, I would be forming another core so that meant I would be having double the cores!3ZOaU
2DToWith an Aura Core, it was possible to store excess aura inside it, and that was why the difference between knights at the Medium Rank and those at the High Rank in terms of Aura was like that of heaven and the earth.ewX
f4viEven if they had a similar amount of aura, a Medium Aura Rank knight would be fighting with about 4,000 aura whereas a High Aura Rank knight would be fighting with at least 10,000.HQ9A8H1
iUbThat was one of the reasons why the power balance surged through the roof into the Milky Way when it came to the highest level of knights.r71z
zs3nRA simple calculation would already tell you that one side had more than double the other side’s ammunition.PAMf2mE
dUlTPg8For someone like me who had a terrible Aura Rank as well as Aura Capacity from birth to be able to use the ‘Sixth Style’ which consumed a tremendous amount of aura, measures like this were essential.fvut7G
4iZfE6B“That is some… amazing effect. Then the gold one…”unq
dw4eI“Not yet. That is for later.”1GP
O6DRn6In response to my words, Alicia halted her hands that were heading to the Golden Mandrake.6wz
hXJleu“Ah~. I guess it’s bad to have different types of medicine at once right?”jvl4EM
75dgK7She wasn’t necessarily wrong so I didn’t bother correcting her.3SXy
ffZ****uufEAby
9B8ZlThere was a very rational reason behind why countless professors of the Magic Department gave up on joining the Tower of Mages and remained behind to be professors at the Academy.uxJDK3
2TvThe overwhelming number of books inside Merkarva Great Library was one of the reasons, but that came second. If so, then what was the first and foremost reason?5eqO6b6
2KkIt was because on the western side of the Academy was the enormous laboratory which had the best experiment subjects that mages could ever dream of.IGQ6C8
CnRYxYlAn example… was a ‘Unique Grade’ demonic beast that was sealed due to being unkillable.xUo6kUt
vWQk10“Now now. Please prepare the restriction spell, and the Magic team? Please double-check the sealing chains and the pressure.”errs
aFmE2EGProfessor Deina couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her lips while seeing the test subject that was prepared for this experiment.BYE
XzcSince the Academy was an education facility, inhumane and immoral experiments were forbidden but being able to use a massive and renowned monster like this as a subject was one of the privileges that the professors of the Merkarva Academy had.Tf0p
5VaAEg3“King of Iron Mountain. To think I would see such a famous great monster with my own eyes.”z2RHaHE
84r6RLaying in front of the eyes of Professor Deina was a large boar.0hgeEb
Ed97Reaching 6 meters in length, it weighed 50 tonnes at the very least. The fearsome fangs going up looked more like smooth steel than a bone, and the skin of the boar that was large enough to cover a small house appeared like a metal plate instead of the stiff fur of an animal.OGqhjB
wT8JThis ‘Rune Boar’ which was currently sleeping in its sealed state was the legendary demonic beast from 85 years ago, which had been barely sealed after it crushed the northern Dingle Peninsula into fragments.2HEgmIx
8H9nBBKing of Iron Mountain.luizst
1UAFvlKiller of Heroes.qsNMHnS
xN9a36The Demonic Pig of the Dingle Peninsula.ccIY
AunlA great demonic beast that was sealed by the previous previous chairman, Biren, Josephine the Dimensional Witch and… the one renowned for being the strongest knight of the time, Tates Valtazar.5gpY
0G2Even though two semi-Unique Grades and a Unique Grade Knight like Tates Valtazar had joined the expedition, they weren’t able to kill the King of Iron Mountain.Unxo
5e0The reason for that was the ‘Primal Rune’ that this Rune Boar had inside it. The ancient power that functioned as a concept rather than a simple addition of power was inside the beast.N46Ep
mfwetPH– Clap clap clap.r06vhRQ
hPTT“Wow~ What an amazing boar.”6VIM
AgIBjNWAt the corner of the laboratory, an afro-haired knight wearing vambraces walked up to the sealed boar which was being sealed by the best restrictive items and the world’s strongest spells.5Vlh
2Vc1I“Professor Fermack. Don’t go too close to it.”gK520t9
9aF“I am aware, Professor Deina. Is this it? The one that I have to carve a ‘rune’ on in this experiment?”2hAy3G
A59am“Yes. You’ve seen it in the textbook right, Professor Fermack? This is the boar that swallowed an entire iron mine as well as the Primal Rune that was carved deep inside the mine.”92FuhgD
L9V“Of course. I’m from the Dingle Peninsula, you see. This thing comes out in our fairy tales.”rS57p
u9vmVProfessor Deina commented on how ironic it was that even the great demonic beast that used to be unstoppable in its times was now just a villain of a fairy tale, as Professor Fermack showed his agreement.laHZT
PEYP“Haa~. It’s great that we have you, Professor Fermack. It’s pretty much impossible to find Rune Mages these days.”up2l
LU8IMThe one that sealed the rationality of this demonic pig was the Rune Magic of Tates Valtazar.XVElI
9H1iqjaIn other words, the first step to undoing the countless seals that were cast on this monster was by unsealing the rune spell, and that meant you needed a Rune Mage.6zW7Qm
Z8PdThere was a time when Professor Deina contemplated whether she should learn Rune Magic herself just for this experiment. However, learning a new language was proving to be very difficult and due to all the ambiguous descriptions in the modern times, it was extremely hard to learn them.MW6EVB
djEnThat was when Professor Fermack showed up. He was a knight but was a user of Rune Magic.LQwE50r
UEW“That’s how everything is with dead languages. Only knights like me with a bit of room to spare for mana uses it, but it’s still hard to use in a real fight.”AQ9P
aBp“Are there still some people in the North that use rune letters?”9nNnfSv
SNj0IQ“There are some. In Berkut Academy, it’s a part of the mandatory course.”x5CqFZc
WfL“Ah~ right. I do remember inviting a professor from Berkut Academy for an experiment that required an expert at Rune Magic.”lpyp
otfAlthough the origin of rune letters wasn’t very clear, the northern continent was believed to be where it originated.OUb
fC43MnCLooking back, strangely enough, most of the great demonic beasts that were unstoppably powerful tended to come from the North.lmx79B
Xqnccsf“By the way, what was this experiment about again?” Professor Fermack asked.8xYF
vNA“It’s about the alpha specialty of Unique Grade entities. I am planning on writing an article regarding the alpha energy of Unique Grade demons and how they affect the lower Grade entities.”0cNJXo
DsIejGC“Unique Grade, huh…”wJrX
eaqbp2Professor Fermack immediately thought of a few names, because there were two Unique Grade demi-humans in this Academy already.7aA
eq8UplnLeaving aside the Heavenly Yaksha due to the complex circumstances because of her relationship with the New Faith and the empire in the East, Marie…76x
n7W5Ta“Now now. Shall we start with interpreting the sealing runes that are cast on this pig?”tD3eqaD
3SlfcThe two of them ended their short conversation and focused on the demonic boar in front of their eyes.h0gF
d2dCGSLIt had been 80 years since it was captured, but the vicious energy emanating out of this sealed monster was still the same even after 80 years of captivation.lx9
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